Look – Jesus is the reason for the season (and my being!)but Christmas is not my jam. I’m a Thanksgiving girl – gratitude, no pressure to buy gifts and all of the delicious carbs you can eat. I mean, let’s all just get it together and agree that turkey day is superior. The only area in which Christmas trumps Thanksgiving is movies, but still.

Originally my family had planned to travel to Virginia Beach to visit my brother but a few days before Christmas my grandmother ended up in the hospital with congestive heart failure which sounds like something you hear about in a Grey’s Anatomy cliffhanger. She’s okay for the time being and being closely monitored by a solid team of cardiologists and physicians and we’re optimistic that she’s going to be okay because she’s tough and she’s my grandmother and it just has to be that way. It just does.

it was nice to be at home, to see most of my family and just be in the place where I grew up. I don’t go home often, not for any other reason than I just am not good at making that a priority. I drove around my city a lot – quiet, early mornings and some late nights when it felt like no one else was awake but me. I saw things with new, adult eyes, thought to myself how some parts of this place are just so beautiful – I want to go back again sometime soon and just walk around – me and my camera.

I also made time to see my oldest friend and my goddaughter. Without going into an unnecessary amount of detail – I’d missed both of them in a way that was bigger than even I understood until I was there, and hugging both of them. Time really can be the great equalizer.

All in all, I was glad I went and I’m also glad to be back in my new home, hanging out with my husband. I hope you had a safe and happy holiday!